DT’s Tower: Lessons of Trust from my Childhood (kind of)

Heading as we are towards the Trust Conference, I’ve been thinking a lot about trust. My trust antennae is becoming finely honed and I’m picking up more and more examples of how trust accelerates performance.

My not jealous face

I’ve also been watching TV.

One of the shows I really get a kick out of is Toy Hunter. If you haven’t seen it (you should) it follows Jordan Hembrough, toy dealer, as he visits toy collections to find great toys that he can sell (and probably keep).

This guy makes his living from looking, talking and playing with toys!

I’m not jealous.

Aside from the gob smacking amount that some toys that I used to play with now sell for, it is a real trip down nostalgia lane as you see familiar toys in great condition and a little history of early commercial toys.

Trust, Given

Coming back on topic… As I was watching Jordan begin to negotiate with a collector on some toys (boxed DC superheroes from the 1960s :D) the conversation turned financial:

Jordan: So how much would you be comfortable parting with these?

Collector: (thinks) how about $100 each?

Jordan: (laughs) I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll give you $200 each. They are worth WAY more than $100

The collector was very pleased. What I found compelling though was the fact that Jordan didn’t even need to think. The way he does business is give a fair price and… he is one of these people. He loves and collects toys. If he cheated the collector then he’d be cheating himself (kind of).

Trust, Shared

What do you think happened? The collector understood that Jordan wasn’t going to rip him off and trusted him to give him the right price. He asked his opinion. He didn’t haggle.

The tour (these guys generally have rooms for toys. Hell, they have built extra rooms for the toys they collect). went quickly and it was clear both Jordan and the collector could relax and do what they love to do best, talk and revel in the shared joy of toys they had.

A great way to do business.

You can still get tickets for the Trust Conference here but hurry September is coming up quickly!